Cost of Living Adjustment to Royalty Rates for Webcaster Statutory License

Published date21 November 2019
Citation84 FR 64204
Record Number2019-25196
SectionRules and Regulations
CourtCopyright Royalty Board,Library Of Congress
Federal Register, Volume 84 Issue 225 (Thursday, November 21, 2019)
[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 225 (Thursday, November 21, 2019)]
                [Rules and Regulations]
                [Pages 64204-64205]
                From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
                [FR Doc No: 2019-25196]
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                LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
                Copyright Royalty Board
                37 CFR Part 380
                [Docket No. 14-CRB-0001-WR (2016-2020) COLA 2020]
                Cost of Living Adjustment to Royalty Rates for Webcaster
                Statutory License
                AGENCY: Copyright Royalty Board (CRB), Library of Congress.
                ACTION: Final rule; cost of living adjustment.
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                SUMMARY: The Copyright Royalty Judges announce a cost of living
                adjustment (COLA) in the royalty rates that commercial and
                noncommercial noninteractive webcasters pay for eligible transmissions
                pursuant to the statutory licenses for the public performance of and
                for the making of ephemeral reproductions of sound recordings.
                DATES: Effective date: January 1, 2020.
                 Applicability dates: These rates are applicable to the period
                January 1, 2020, through December 31, 2020.
                FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Anita Blaine, CRB Program Assistant,
                by telephone at (202) 707-7658 or by email at [email protected].
                SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Sections 112(e) and 114(f) of the Copyright
                Act, title 17 of the United States Code, create statutory licenses for
                certain digital performances of sound recordings and the making of
                ephemeral reproductions to facilitate transmission of those sound
                recordings. On May 2, 2016, the Copyright Royalty Judges (Judges)
                adopted final regulations governing the rates and terms of copyright
                royalty payments under those licenses for the license period 2016-2020
                for performances of sound recordings via eligible transmissions by
                commercial and noncommercial noninteractive webcasters. See 81 FR
                26316.
                 Pursuant to those regulations, at least 25 days before January 1 of
                each year from 2017 to 2020, the Judges shall publish in the Federal
                Register notice of a COLA applicable to the royalty fees for
                performances of sound recordings via
                [[Page 64205]]
                eligible transmissions by commercial and noncommercial noninteractive
                webcasters. 37 CFR 380.10.
                 The adjustment in the royalty fee shall be based on a calculation
                of the percentage increase in the CPI-U from the CPI-U published in
                November 2015 (237.838), according to the formula (1 + (Cy-
                237.838)/237.838) x R2016, where Cy is the CPI-U
                published by the Secretary of Labor before December 1 of the preceding
                year and R2016 is the royalty rate for 2016; i.e., for
                commercial webcasters $0.0022 per subscription performance or $0.0017
                per nonsubscription performance, or for noncommercial webcasters
                $0.0017 per performance for all digital audio transmissions in excess
                of 159,140 Aggregate Tuning Hours (ATH) in a month on a channel or
                station. The adjustment shall be rounded to the nearest fourth decimal
                place. 37 CFR 380.10(c). The CPI-U published by the Secretary of Labor
                from the most recent index published before December 1, 2019, is
                257.346.\1\ Applying the formula in 37 CFR 380.10(c) and rounding to
                the nearest fourth decimal place results in an increase in the rates
                for 2020.
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                 \1\ As announced on November 13, 2019, by the Bureau of Labor
                Statistics in its News Release--Consumer Price Index October 2019,
                available at https://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.htm at Table 1.
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                 The 2020 rate for eligible transmissions of sound recordings by
                commercial webcasters is $0.0024 per subscription performance and
                $0.0018 per nonsubscription performance.
                 Application of the increase to rates for noncommercial webcasters
                results in a 2020 rate of $0.0018 per performance for all digital audio
                transmissions in excess of 159,140 ATH in a month on a channel or
                station.
                 As provided in 37 CFR 380.10(d), the royalty fee for making
                ephemeral recordings under section 112 of the Copyright Act to
                facilitate digital transmission of sound recordings under section 114
                of the Copyright Act is included in the section 114 royalty fee and
                comprises 5% of the total fee.
                List of Subjects in 37 CFR Part 380
                 Copyright; sound recordings.
                Final Regulations
                 In consideration of the foregoing, the Judges amend part 380 of
                title 37 of the Code of Federal Regulations as follows:
                PART 380--RATES AND TERMS FOR TRANSMISSIONS BY ELIGIBLE
                NONSUBSCRIPTION SERVICES AND NEW SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES AND FOR THE
                MAKING OF EPHEMERAL REPRODUCTIONS TO FACILITATE THOSE TRANSMISSIONS
                0
                1. The authority citation for part 380 continues to read as follows:
                 Authority: 17 U.S.C. 112(e), 114(f), 804(b)(3).
                0
                2. Section 380.10 is amended by revising paragraph (a) to read as
                follows:
                Sec. 380.10 Royalty fees for the public performance of sound
                recordings and the making of ephemeral recordings.
                 (a) Royalty fees. For the year 2020, Licensees must pay royalty
                fees for all Eligible Transmissions of sound recordings at the
                following rates:
                 (1) Commercial webcasters: $0.0024 per performance for subscription
                services and $0.0018 per performance for nonsubscription services.
                 (2) Noncommercial webcasters: $500 per year for each channel or
                station and $0.0018 per performance for all digital audio transmissions
                in excess of 159,140 ATH in a month on a channel or station.
                * * * * *
                 Dated: November 15, 2019.
                Jesse M. Feder,
                Chief Copyright Royalty Judge.
                [FR Doc. 2019-25196 Filed 11-20-19; 8:45 am]
                 BILLING CODE 1410-72-P
                

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